I am just two weeks past the official time to make New Year's Resolutions and already so much has happened.Around the world there are terrorist attacks and genocides. There are hungry people and lost airplanes. There is political unrest and unwarranted injustice. There is trouble everywhere.And here I am wondering how to continue my conversion process and fit more Jewishness into my life.I wonder, how do I reconcile the absolute atrocities and violence around the world with my own … [Read more...]

Life isn't fair.It's something I was pondering today as I thought about my last two posts about divorce and Mother's Day , and as I spoke with some people about their experiences with uncharitable life situations.That's the entirety of the book of Job (Iyov), isn't it? That life isn't fair, even for righteous people. If you haven't read Job, the story goes like this:Job is a great guy who lives a great life. He is an "upright" person who always does the right thing. He has many … [Read more...]

I will be 28 years old this year. I am a millennial.Like most millennials, I have a smart phone. I also have a desktop and a netbook. I have a laptop my work has provisioned, too. I am never far from the technology that wires my life: internet for Facebook, Twitter, finding writing clients, and taking online classes. My phone for texting with my friends, answering work email, listening to music, or checking out LinkedIn Pulse or Twitter.I'm not sure if this is common to my generation, … [Read more...]

This year, April 27th and 28th were when we participated in Yom HaShoah. It is the day on the Jewish calendar marked specifically to remember the Shoah, also known as the Holocaust. The entirety of last week was also devoted to remembrance of the Shoah in the form of "Holocaust Remembrance Week".The Shoah was one large, terrible tragedy that made up the bigger tragedy that was the Second World War. The political, social, legal, scientific, and technological world shifted because of the a … [Read more...]

So, I really wanted to write something amazing about the Bill Nye-Ken Ham smackdown that happened at the Creation Museum. But I have nothing truly inspiring to say. I was, and still am, fully Team Nye. I found that Ham's views were very biased and based on a narrow interpretation of both Gd and the Bible. I had actually hoped that Ham would bring out real science to refute Nye...but alas, it was not to be. The Debate Some Tweets "Ham's view that the Bible translated into American English … [Read more...]

I recently saw this article on the Huffington Post:Q&A With Rabbi Set to Lead a Unitarian-Universalist CongregationShe says, in response to a question about whether Rabbis should only serve the Jewish people: I am so glad you asked this. In part, I agree. Where we disagree is about (a) whether all rabbis should focus on only Jewish people and (b) what it means to serve the Jewish people. I have long been a servant for people of all backgrounds - that is part of my vocation. By being … [Read more...]

I live in Indiana. I've spent most of my life in Indianapolis, although I was born in the east coast and my entire family is from the east coast. I don't think I will ever leave Indiana, although that's only because I am remarried and I don't think my ex-husband will ever move either. So here I am. And really, my state sucks. Especially now when we insist on wasting taxpayer money by pushing for a bill that many of us don't want.That bill is HJR-3. It was formerly known as HJR-6 before it … [Read more...]